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Reviews

Black Rainbows — Hawkdope
(Heavy Psych Sounds HPS022, 2015, CD/LP)

by Henry Schneider, Published 2015-07-03

Hawkdope Cover art

The Italian trio Black Rainbows sound like the love child spawned from 70s hard rock and 90s stoner groove. There are hints of Ozzie, Black Sabbath, Rotor, Hawkwind, and spin off space rock bands Moonloonies and Dead Flowers. If you are a fan of fuzzed/distorted guitar that barrages your senses and shreds your speakers, you will not be disappointed with Hawkdope. Otherwise the music tends to wear on you after a while. Sprinkled in amidst the distortion are some crazed electric guitar riffs and found sounds. There are also hidden gems, such as the title track, a relatively slow mind-numbing trance inducing bass and guitar riff; “Waiting for the Sun,” not to be confused with The Doors' tune, is an excellent, albeit too short, Gothic Western song; and the closing track, “The Cosmic Picker,” functions as the calm eye in the swirling mass of sound. “The Cosmic Picker” is a catchy slow and quiet song; one where you can easily understand the vocals – it is an excellent closer. I have mixed feelings about Hawkdope. There is some redeeming value to our Exposé readers, but by and large, the bulk of the disc is crammed full of headbanger distortion that does not fit in well with what we normally review.

Filed under: New releases, 2015 releases

Related artist(s): Black Rainbows

 

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